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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The myths, legends and stories of gods have always
fascinated me. But from all of the different kinds of gods, Egyptian gods have
always been my favorite. Its really amazing how the gods live, what kind of
power they have, what kind of clothes they wear and even the way the
interesting ways the gods are related to each other. The Egyptians were
geniuses. They created the idea of gods existing in order to try to explain how
things work. Like when there’s lightening or thunder, the Egyptians would
create a god to understand why those things happen. Since the Egyptians didn’t
know anything about modern science, they couldn’t explain why those natural
things happen. In order to try to explain it, they just created the existence
of gods. Its just a way for them to try to understand how things are the way
they are. For them, its at least better to think the gods are angry rather than
being confused on how things work. There are numerous gods that the Egyptians
have created. For example, Ra is their sun god. Isis is their female goddess
and there are over two thousand different kinds of gods. Amun is the king of
gods and there was a moment when he combined with Ra, the sun god, and he
became even more powerful then he has originally been. Another important and
prominent god is Anubis. He was the god of mummification, which is also known
as embalming and the dead. Anubis guarded necropolis and he often wore a
special type of mask while performing the mummification ceremonies. The gods
have different kinds of magic and power. Some of them are believed to protect
the women, protect the men, protect their land or literally protect anything.
But some gods stand for other things such as death, celebration, the sun or
even love. Some gods are just simple and they look just like normal human
beings, but some of the gods has extra features. For example, the gods can have
a normal human body and a cat’s head or a dog’s head, a ram’s head, a jackal’s
head, a goose’s head, a cow’s head, a lioness’s head, a falcon’s head, a frog’s
head, a bird’s head a crocodile’s head and even an eagle’s head. You can
differentiate the gods’ ranks by one obvious thing. And that’s their clothing
and the staff that the gods use. The higher the rank, the better the gods will
be dressed and the more elegant they will look. The gods were known to live in
each district of Egypt. And the priests would build the statues of them in each
shrine and temple built of the respective gods in each district. And on some
occasions, the myths and legends said that the gods used to pay visits to each
other and give their blessings to the land. According to the Egyptians, the
fortunes and misfortunes of the regions depended on the gods each region
believed in.

The god I’ll be talking about in this research is Isis. The
goddess Isis was a talented, clever and an intelligent women. She was the wife
as well as the sister of Osiris and mother of Horus. Isis is usually seen
carrying a headdress with a throne or a moon and a sun disk. Her name means
“Stone Seat” representing the accessories on her head. She was really famous
for her skillfulness in magic, her mysterious aura she gives off and for her
secrets. Isis was multitalented too. There was really nothing she couldn’t do
and in tarots, she was name “The high priestess carrying the scroll of
secrets”.

There was a really interesting story of Isis that was
really well known. She was known for the foundation idea of mummification. When
her brother Seth died, she searched and collected all the dismembered parts of
Osiris’s body and put them together with bandages. And thus, the idea of mummification
started. Plus, she brought back Osiris back to life. Which proudly represented
the idea of resurrection that has profoundly influenced other religions like
Christianity. Her idea influenced many Egyptians and the world and that also
made her the ultimate Egyptian goddess.

Isis was a goddess from the polytheistic pantheon of Egypt.
She was first worshipped in the ancient Egyptian religion and later; her
worship has spread throughout the Roman Empire. Isis is the only goddess that
is believed to be still actively working and is still widely worshipped by many
pagans today in diverse religious contexts. Also including a number of distinct
pagan religions, the modern Goddess movement, and interfaith organizations such
as the Fellowship of Isis. The Egyptians still believe that Isis still lives
and is going around helping people and making the people happy by taking care
of them.

Isis was worshipped as the ideal type of mother and wide as
well as the goddess of nature and magic. All Egyptians respected her for her
wisdom and her carefulness is making all kinds of decisions. Slaves, sinners,
artisans and the downtrodden loved and respected her because even when they are
known to be guilty and discriminated by the citizens, Isis still listened to
their prayers and remained their friend. Not only she listened the players of
those who are sinned and poor, she didn’t leave the rich behind. Isis also
attended to the rich, the wealthy, the maiden, the aristocrats and even the
rulers such as the pharaohs. The Egyptians respected and thought of Isis as a
mother and therefore she was also known as the protector of the dead and
goddess of children.

The goddess’s name Isis meant, “Throne” representing her
headdress. As the personification of the throne, she was a prior representation
of the pharaoh’s power. The Egyptians depicted the pharaoh as Isis’s child who
sat on the throne that she provided. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt but
her most important temples were Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta and Egyptians go there to pay homage.

The
magic Isis possesses is really amazing. It was said that Isis has tricked Ra
into telling her his “secret name” by causing a snake to bite him. But the only
cure, the antidote to the venom was with Isis. So by knowing his secret name,
it was said that Isis could have overpowered him. Later on, the use of secret
names became central in many late Egyptian spells. And there’s no doubt that
Isis has influenced them. By the late Egyptian historical period, after the
occupations by the Greeks and Romans, Isis became the most important and most
incredible powerful deity of the Egyptian Pantheon because of her magical
skills. Magic was central to the entire mythology of Isis. Isis had a central
role in the Egyptian magic spells and ritual, especially those of protection
and healing. Mostly her spells merged with her son Horus’s. His power has
always accompanied hers whenever she is invoked. In most Egyptian history, the
image of a wounded Horus has became a standard feature of his very own mother
Isis’s healing spells, which typically invoked the curative powers of Isis’s
sweet magic milk. The magic of Isis influenced many Egyptians in many ways.

Isis
was said to have given birth to Horus at Khemmis, which is known to be at the
Nile Delta. Another set of late myths have also revealed the adventures of Isis
after the birth f Osiris’s posthumous son, Horus. Many dangers have faced Horus
after his birth and Isis had to flee with the newborn to escape the wrath of
Set, the murderer of her husband. Isis acted as a good mother and didn’t let go
of Horus through all the difficulties. At one instance, Isis has to heal Horus
from a deathly lethal scorpion sting. She also had to perform other miracles in
relation to the Cippi or the plaques of Horus. Isis protected and raised Horus
by even risking her life until Horus reached the age when he’s ready to become
the pharaoh of Egypt. Isis faced countless dangers during the process but she
could withstand and over come all the difficulties because of her love for her
son, Horus. But eventually, she had to let go of her son when he was ready to
become king and take care of the country. Isis was the role model of the
mothers and everyone will always respect her.

Isis is depicted as a woman wearing a vulture
head-dress and the solar disk between a pair of horns (which is sometimes underneath the symbol of her name, the
throne). Occasionally she wears the double-crowns of the North and the South
with the feather of Ma'at, or a pair of ram's horns. Isis as a woman (not a
goddess) is portrayed with the ordinary head-dress of a woman, but with the
uraeus over her forehead. The more beautiful and more elegant the goddess wear,
the higher the rank of the goddess is. Egyptians are really very interesting
and very creative.

The
life of Egyptians is really fascinating. Their creations about the Egyptian
gods are really a mystery and an interesting case. Since I was young, I read
many books about the gods. My grandma used to tell me myths and stories about
them too. Since them, I have always been really curious about the Egyptian gods
and wanted to learn more about them. Their myths, their legends, their powers
have been extremely fun for me to learn and that makes me remember all of them
in my head. I used to watch all kinds of movies that included about the gods
and I really loved them! My friends and me also used to read the “Percy
Jackson” series about Greek gods. We always fan girl over the amazing powers of
the gods and how they worked. Especially the Egyptian gods are really unique.
When I was young the animal headed gods and goddesses always amazed me. They
really seem interesting and that makes me inquire more about them. I was a kid.
I didn’t know that gods or goddesses with animal heads could exist. I just thought
everything was normal. But after reading about the ancient gods and goddesses,
my life changed. I started to see things in a better point of view and it made
my life more colorful. The goddess Isis is really a fascinating
goddess for me. She inspires me in many things. For example, she taught me to
be kind and care about everyone. The goddess Isis was a perfect role
model that taught the Egyptian and the world many important things. Not only
did she talk about the good things, she also gave lessons on the bad things
that could happen in life. Isis was a protective goddess. She used powerful
magic spells to help people in need. Isis is often shown holding Horus on her
lap. Isis is associated with thrones because her lap was the first 'throne'
that Horus sat upon. Isis loved and protected her son. Every mother should take
that as an example. The existences of the gods and goddesses have shaped
Egyptian life effectively and in a good way. The Egyptians’ way of living won’t
be the same without the gods shaping their lives. In a way, it’s a really good
thing. Who knows? Maybe if the Egyptians didn’t create or worshipped any gods,
things wont be the same until now. Studying about the life of gods and
goddesses can be really interesting and educative. You can take the good things
they do and we can learn about the bad choices they made so that we can try to
not do those by ourselves. The gods and goddesses have helped the Egyptians in
many ways. They were there to explain how all things worked. When the Egyptians
couldn’t understand how and what science is, the gods were there to explain or
cover everything for them. Learning about them is never a lost for us and we
must all respect them.